How big does an axolotl need to be to go on sand? + Pics!!

Hi

One of my axies is now 5cm and getting his hind legs. Is (s)he big enough to go into a tank with sand on the floor or is there still a risk of impactaion?

If so then what size should they be?

Also some pics!!

Thanks
=DS=

As soon as his/her hind legs have grown completely 7-8cm should be safe to put in a tank with sand(cause by then (s)he will have developed rudimentary lungs(less risk of impaction) however I haven't heard of a case of impaction involving play sand) if your too worried about impaction put him/her in the tank with no substrate, plenty of people have no substrate I think due to the fact its easy to clean their tank

Regards Beau

Hey, beautiful babies you have there. I would wait until their hin legs are fully grown and they are about 3-4 inches just to be safe, that's just my personal opinion and experiences though. All the best.

Jade

I put mine on sand when they were 5cm and just growing their back legs and not a single problem, impaction related or otherwise. We're not talking one or two either there were 90 of them. My 3 year old managed to put a small handful of fine gravel (2-2.5mm) in a container with half a dozen of them before they were moved to the sand tank. One consumed 3 pcs and after a one hour floating spell the next day it passed them without any help. You'd be surprised what they can pass at this size.

As long as you can feed your little one in the tank without a problem they should be absolutely find on fine sand at this age. The challenge is making sure they eat enough if they aren't hunting by scent yet.

and if your still concerned about impaction, a feeding jar or dish can help. my little guy has used a feeding dish since i got him and he knows where his food is and he rarely eats sand now. gennerally sand is pretty safe, but even on the off chance, better safe then sorry. constant vigilance as fake alastor moody/ barty crouch jr. would say.
sorry bout the harry potter reference there..

Thanks for all of your replys!

They have all JUST (as in today!!) started to feed by scent which makes it sooo much easier to feed them now as i can give them frozen blood worms as well as the daphnia!

I will def be putting a feeding jar now then as this seems like a no brainer! What sort of things work??? or is it just like a dish?

I might hold off a week or 2 maybe putting them in mind as only one of my 5 is big enough to go in - the rest are at least 1/2 his size!

With hine sight i would have not put the sand in to the tank when i cycled it which would have nullified this problem - but hey ho! I know for next time!!!

BTW does anyone have any tips/advice for starting up a worm farm? ie when to start it. What to use and what types of worms are best (and availible in the UK!!)

Thanks soooooo much - you guys are great!!

im my largest axies tank i have a shallow ceramic food dish for hermit crabs. and in Matti my youngest tank i just have a small glass dish, like you would use for dips and such, but make sure it didn't have anything in it before. but ive seen alot of people use different things, the tops to pringles cans can work, and small plates work. pretty much anything will do as long as its nice and clean, no detergent or soap of any kind and generally as far as safe materials go most things safe for animals will work. but plastic, ceramic (animal safe) and glass are easy to clean so there always an excellent option. you can be really creative with it. good luck and i hope i was a help.